Next story in Mideast & N. Africa

Video: Fixing Libya’s economy

Closed captioning of: Fixing Libya’s economy

>>>and now to
libya
. as the rebels try to gain control and find
moammar gadhafi
, what are the next steps as they try to create an
interim government
economy? we're joined by the managing editor of "the
financial times
." how much damage has there been to the
oil fields
, and what will it take to get
libya
back online?

>>there serm has been damage to the
oil fields
. tripoli is trying to talk optimistically about getting the oil flowing fast. there are those in the
international community
hoping that is going to happen. and the fact that the
oil prices
have fallen in recent days ind indicates there's optimism. the reality is not going to be so simple.
people watching
very carefully to see what happens next in terms of the logistics. and aside from the issue of oil, there's also the incredibly important question of when the money that's going to be currently held by western governments and has not been disbedi disbursed because of the sanctions flowing from
libya
, when the money will start flowing again. the crucial vote today in the
united nations
on the sanctions committee which could well determine whether the money will be released or not. as of yet, that money hasn't been releaseded, and that's needed for infrastructure building for things like oil and other parts of the economy.

>>and because
south africa
and others are blocking it. the
african union
blocking the decision, which would actually put
real money
, $1.5 billion at least, into the hands of this interim leadership.

>>absolutely. i mean, there's some very interesting politics developing inside the
african union
right now. it partly reflects a sense of unease in many parts of africa about the site of nato backed force, essentially helping in the overthrow of gadhafi. and there are plenty of people inside africa who don't much like that idea. and the other problem, of course, is that
south africa
doesn't like to be seen as being too strongly on the
american western
side, and that's, again, complicating things.

>>a couple of other quick items in the financial world. a big investment.
warren buffett
betting his $5 billion on
bank of america
. that sent that stock up after a real crisis there. and then apple.
steve jobs
. let's talk about that. he's finally giving up control of apple. the brilliance of
steve jobs
cannot be overestimated.

>>absolutely not. apple has createded an
extraordinary machine
of a company, and aside from being briefly the world's largest market in terms of -- largest company in terms of
market cap
, it overtook
exxon mobil
recently -- standard & poor's gave it a
credit rating
that was higher than the
u.s. government
a week ago. so it was an extraordinary company, and yet so much of the creative genius has been focused on
steve jobs
. the big question now is whether that can actually be passed on to other people. there are a lot of other products in the pipeline. it won't be an issue that apple needs to deal with immediately because certainly those products will keep rolling out. the question, though, really is what's going to happen two, three, four years down the road.

UNITED NATIONS — The United States and South Africa struck a deal Thursday to allow the release of $1.5 billion in frozen Libya funds for humanitarian aid and other civilian needs, U.N. diplomats said Thursday.

Council diplomats said the agreement would enable the funds to be released without a U.N. Security Council vote on a U.S. draft resolution that Washington submitted to the council Wednesday in response to South Africa blocking a U.S. request to disburse the money in the U.N. Libya sanctions committee.

The Libyan opposition said it urgently needs at least $5 billion in frozen assets to pay state salaries, maintain vital services and repair critical oil facilities. Analysts estimate that as much as $110 billion is frozen in banks worldwide.

'We need urgent help'Senior officials from more than 30 nations were meeting Thursday in Istanbul to discuss ways of assisting Libya's opposition in the post-Gadhafi era and the unfreezing of billions in cash and assets.

"We need urgent help," Mahmoud Jibril, head of the opposition National Transitional Council, said in Milan on Wednesday after meeting with Berlusconi and before heading to the Istanbul meeting. "We are here for an urgent call. There are high expectations. While the liberation of Tripoli is in the last and final stages, the battle is still going on."

Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns, who led the U.S. delegation in Istanbul, said the meeting was characterized by an "upbeat spirit and recognition of what our combined efforts have helped to achieve."

He said the TNC has committed to pursuing democratic reform, upholding Libya's international obligations and respecting human rights as well as to distribute funds in a transparent manner that addresses the needs of the Libyan people.

"Now more than ever, we will look to the Transitional National Council to live up to those responsibilities and to implement its transition roadmap," he said. "It is critical that the TNC continue to engage with stakeholders across Libya."

Stability at riskJibril warned that stability and security were at risk if rebel salaries, unpaid for four months, weren't delivered. Among the other urgent priorities, he said, were collecting weapons, rebuilding a justice system and national army, providing care to the wounded in Libya and abroad, and rebuilding power stations.

U.N. political chief B. Lynn Pascoe said several ministers from the NTC were moving to the capital, Tripoli, even though there is still fighting there.

"It's clear that the NTC is moving forward to form its government there, and to get its people in place early on, and the U.N. will be there with them, and right after them as conditions permit," he told reporters after briefing the Security Council on Mideast issues.

"One thing that the Transitional National Council has made very clear is that they expect the U.N. to play a strong role in the post-conflict period," he said. "Any process will be a Libyan-led one. What we are doing is trying to help them."

The U.N. had been preparing for the possible deployment of military observers in the event of a ceasefire in Libya, but Pascoe said "there is at this point no plan whatsoever to have any (U.N.) blue helmets there."

Italy's Berlusconi announced plans to unfreeze Libyan assets following the meeting with Jibril, his second stop of a European diplomatic tour to push for the urgent release of billions of dollars in frozen Libyan assets.

The United States has been trying for more than two weeks to get the Security Council sanctions committee to unfreeze the U.S. assets to pay for immediate humanitarian aid, but South Africa objected.

British Prime Minister David Cameron called South African President Jacob Zuma and they "agreed that Libya now has the opportunity for transition to a peaceful, democratic and inclusive government and they discussed how the international community should actively and urgently support this process," Cameron's office said in statement.

Zuma had earlier pledged to support the release of $500 million, and said African leaders meeting Thursday in Addis Ababa would discuss the unfreezing of additional assets.

People gathering in Benghazi, Libya in mid-February of 2011 as protest against the rule of Moammar Gadhafi grew, in part triggered by the arrest of human rights activist Fethi Tarbel.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The content, date and location of this image could not be independently verified.
(AP)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Buildings at the entrance to a security forces compound burn in Benghazi, Feb. 21, 2011. Libyan protesters celebrated in the streets of Benghazi, claiming control of the country's second largest city after bloody fighting, and anti-government unrest spread to the capital with clashes in Tripoli's main square for the first time.
(Alaguri / AP)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Libyan U.N. ambassador Shalgham is embraced by Dabbashi, Libya's deputy U.N. Ambassador after denouncing Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi for the first time during a Security Council meeting at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York on Feb. 25. Shalgam, a longtime friend and member of Gadhafi's inner circle, had previously refused to denounce Gadhafi.
(Reuters)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Thousands of Libyans gather for the Muslim Friday prayers outside the courthouse in the eastern city of Benghazi on Feb. 25, 2011. Perhaps 8,000 people gathered for the midday prayers with a local imam, who delivered his sermon alongside the coffins of three men killed in the violent uprising that routed Gadhafi loyalists from Benghazi.
(Gianluigi Guercia / AFP - Getty Images)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Rebels hold a young man at gunpoint, who they accuse of being a loyalist to Gadhafi, between the towns of Brega and Ras Lanuf, March 3, 2011.
(Goran Tomasevic / Reuters)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Pro-Gadhafi soldiers and supporters gather in Green Square in Tripoli, March 6, 2011. Thousands of Moammar Gadhafi's supporters poured into the streets of Tripoli, waving flags and firing their guns in the air in the Libyan leader's main stronghold, claiming overnight military successes.
(Ben Curtis / AP)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Rebel fighters jump away from shrapnel during heavy shelling by forces loyal to Gadhafi near Bin Jawad, March 6. Rebels in east Libya regrouped and advanced on Bin Jawad after Gadhafi forces ambushed rebel fighters and ejected them from the town earlier in the day.
(Goran Tomasevic / Reuters)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Libyan rebel fighters take cover as a bomb dropped by an airforce fighter jet explodes near a checkpoint on the outskirts of the oil town of Ras Lanuf on March 7, 2011.
(Marco Longari / AFP - Getty Images)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Libyan government soldiers aboard tanks at the west gate of the town Ajdabiyah March 16, 2011. Libya's army pounded an opposition-held city in the country's west and battled fighters trying to block its advance on a rebel bastion in the east amid flagging diplomatic efforts to end the bloodshed.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Picture taken on a government guided tour.
(Ahmed Jadallah / Reuters)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Libyan people in Benghazi celebrate after the United Nations Security Council authorized a no-fly zone over Libya, March 18. Thousands of Libyans erupted in cheers as the news flashed on a giant screen in besieged Benghazi late March 17. After weeks of discussion, the UN Security Council banned flights in Libya's airspace and authorized "all necessary means" to implement the ban, triggering intervention by individual countries and organizations like NATO.
(EPA)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

A picture combo shows a Libyan jet bomber crashing after being apparently shot down in Benghazi on March 19, 2011 as the Libyan rebel stronghold came under attack. Air strikes and sustained shelling of the city's south sent thick smoke into the sky.
(Patrick Baz / AFP - Getty Images)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Residents of Benghazi flee the city along the road toward Tobruk, in an attempt to escape fighting in their city, March 19, 2011. Gaddafi's troops pushed into the outskirts of Benghazi, a city of 670,000 people, in an apparent attempt to pre-empt Western military intervention expected after a meeting of Western and Arab leaders in Paris.
(Reuters TV)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Vehicles belonging to forces loyal to Gadhafi explode after an air strike by coalition forces, along a road between Benghazi and Ajdabiyah March 20, 2011.
(Goran Tomasevic / Reuters)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

A rebel fighter carries his weapon outside the northeastern Libyan town of Ajdabiyah, March 21, 2011. A wave of air strikes hit Gaddafi's troops around Ajdabiyah, a strategic town in the barren, scrub of eastern Libya that rebels aim to retake and where their fighters said they need more help.
(Finbarr O'reilly / Reuters)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

A Libyan rebel prays next to his gun on the frontline of the outskirts of the city of Ajdabiya, south of Benghazi, March 21, 2011. The international military intervention in Libya is likely to last "a while," a top French official said, echoing Moammar Gadhafi's warning of a long war ahead as rebels, energized by the strikes on their opponents.
(Anja Niedringhaus / AP)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Libyan rebels retreat as mortars from Gadhafi's forces are fired on them near the outskirts of the city of Ajdabiya, March 22, 2011. Coalition forces bombarded Libya for a third straight night, targeting the air defenses and forces of Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi, stopping his advances and handing some momentum back to the rebels, who were on the verge of defeat.
(Anja Niedringhaus / AP)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

A Libyan man is comforted by hospital staff as he reacts after identifying his killed brother in the morgue of the Jalaa hospital in Benghazi, March 22, 2011. His brother was killed earlier in fighting around the city of Ajdabiya.
(Anja Niedringhaus / AP)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Volunteer fighters training at a rebel army training camp in Benghazi, March 29, 2011. Pro-government forces intensified their attacks on Libyan rebels, driving them back over ground they had taken in recent days. The rebels had reached Nawfaliya, but pulled back to Bin Jawad.
(Manu Brabo / EPA)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Smoke billows as seven explosions were reported in the tightly-guarded residence of leader Moammar Gadhafi and military targets in the suburb of Tajura. Two explosions also rocked the Libyan capital Tripoli on March 29, 2011, as NATO-led coalition aircraft had been seen in the skies over the capital.
(Mahmud Turkia / AFP - Getty Images)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

A Libyan rebel urges people to leave, as shelling from Gadhafi's forces started landing on the frontline outside of Bin Jawaad, 93 miles east of Sirte, March 29, 2011.
(Anja Niedringhaus / AP)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

General Abdel-Fattah Younis, former interior minister in the Gadhafi regime who defected in the early days of the uprising, is greeted by Libyan rebels at the front line near Brega, April 1, 2011.
(Altaf Qadri / AP)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Libyan men show the V-sign for victory as they stand on the deck of a Turkish ship arriving from Misrata to the port of Benghazi who were evacuated along with others the injured in the fighting between rebel and Gadhafi forces, April 03, 2011. The Turkish vessel took hundreds of people wounded in the Libyan uprising for treatment in Turkey from the two cities of Misrata and Benghazi.
(Mahmud Hams / AFP - Getty Images)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

A wounded prisoner from Gadhafi's forces is transported in the back of a pickup truck by rebels, on the way to a hospital for treatment, half way between Brega and Ajdabiya, April 9, 2011. Rebels say they took two prisoners after a clash with soldiers near Brega's university outside the government-controlled oil facilities, marking a noticeable advance by rebels.
(Ben Curtis / AP)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

In this image taken from TV, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi makes a pubic appearance in Tripoli, April 14 2011. Gadhafi defiantly waved at his supporters while being driven around Tripoli while standing up through the sunroof of a car.
(AP)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

A rebel fighter celebrates as his comrades fire a rocket barrage toward the positions of government troops April 14, 2011, west of Ajdabiyah.
(Chris Hondros / Getty Images)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Gadhafi supporters hold copies of his portrait as they gather at the Bab Al Azizia compound in Tripoli, April 15, 2011. Rebels held much of eastern Libya by mid-April, while Gadhafi controlled the west, with the front line shifting back and forth in the middle.
(Pier Paolo Cito / AP)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Doctors work on a baby who suffered cuts from shrapnel that blasted through the window of his home during fighting in the besieged city of Misrata, April 18, 2011. Thousands of civilians are trapped in Misrata as fighting continues between Libyan government forces that have surrounded the city and anti-government rebels there. The Libyan government has come under international criticism for using heavy weapons and artillery in its assault on Misrata.
(Chris Hondros / Getty Images)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

MISRATA, LIBYA - APRIL 20: Libyan rebel fighters discuss how to dislodge some ensconced government loyalist troops who were firing on them from the next room during house-to-house fighting on Tripoli Street in downtown Misrata April 20, 2011 in Misrata, Libya. Rebel forces assaulted the downtown positions of troops loyal to Libyan strongman Moammar Gaddafi April 20, briefly forcing them back over a key bridge and trapping several in a building that fought back instead of surrendering, firing on the rebels in the building and seriously wounding two of them during the standoff. Fighting continues between Libyan government forces that have surrounded the city and anti-government rebels ensconced there. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
(Chris Hondros / Getty Images)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Libyan rebel fighters carry out a comrade wounded during an effort to dislodge some ensconced government loyalist troops who were firing on them from a building during house-to-house fighting on Tripoli Street in downtown Misrata April 20, 2011. Rebel forces assaulted the downtown positions of troops loyal to Gaddafi, briefly forcing them back over a key bridge and trapping several in a building where they fought back instead of surrendering. Two rebels were seriously wounded during the standoff.
(Chris Hondros / Getty Images)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Rebels tread carefully as they prepare to invade a house where soldiers from the pro-government forces had their base in the Zwabi area of Misrata on April 24, 2011.
(Andre Liohn / EPA)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Libyans inspect damage and an unexploded missile at the Gadhafi family compound in a residential area of Tripoli, May 1, 2011. Gadhafi escaped a NATO missile strike in Tripoli that killed one of his sons and three young grandchildren.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Photo taken on a government guided tour.
(Darko Bandic / AP)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Moammar Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, center, leaves the funeral of his brother Saif Al-Arab Gadhafi, who was killed during air strikes by coalition forces, at the El Hani cemetery in Tripoli, May 2, 2011. Crowds chanting Gadhafi's name gathered in Tripoli for the funeral of his son and three grandchildren.
(Louafi Larbi / Reuters)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Fleeing migrants and Libyans are seen on board an International Organization of Migration ship leaving the port of Misrata on May 4, 2011, as Gadhafi forces continued to pound the city.
(Christophe Simon / AFP - Getty Images)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Libyan men watch as the main fuel depot in Libya's third largest city, Misrata, burns following a bombing by Gadhafi's forces on May 7, 2011. Libyan regime forces shelled fuel depots in Misrata and dropped mines into its harbor using helicopters bearing the Red Cross emblem, rebels said as they braced for a ground assault.
(Ricardo Garcia Vilanova / AFP - Getty Images)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Libyan rebels celebrate near the airport of Misrata on May 11, 2011 after capturing the city's strategic airport following a fierce battle with Moammar Gadhafi's troops -- their first significant advance in weeks.
(Ricardo Garcia Vilanova / AFP - Getty Images)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Women react after a protest against Moammar Gadhafi's regime in Benghazi, Libya, on May 16, 2011. Luis Moreno-Ocampo, prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, announced that he would seek arrest warrants against the leader of Libya, Moammar Gadhafi, his son Seif al-Islam and the country's intelligence chief on charges of crimes against humanity.
(Rodrigo Abd / AP)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Tripoli street in Misrata is seen from the terrace of a building used by Gadhafi’s snipers before the rebels took control of the area on May 22, 2011. The weeks-long siege of the city ended in mid-May and Tripoli Street was the site of the fiercest fighting in the battle and a turnin point in the war.
(Rodrigo Abd / AP)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

A rebel fighter gives water to a soldier loyal to Gadhafi after he was wounded and then captured near the front line, west of Misrata on May 23, 2011.
(Rodrigo Abd / AP)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

An uncle, left, prays over the body of one and a half year-old Mohsen Ali al-Sheikh during a washing ritual during the funeral at his family's house in Misrata, May 27, 2011. The child was killed by a gunshot during clashes between rebels and pro-Gadhafi forces earlier in the day.
(Wissam Saleh / AP)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

The body of a drowned refugee floats near a capsized ship which was transporting an estimated 850 refugees from Libya, approximately 22 miles north of the Tunisian islands of Kerkennah, June 4, 2011. At least 578 survived the sinking.
(Lindsay Mackenzie / AP)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

A photograph taken from a video by a National Transitional Council (NTC) fighter shows Mutassem Gadhafi, son of Moammar Gadhafi, drinking water and smoking a cigarette following his capture and shortly before his death, in Sirte, Oct. 20, 2011.
(- / AFP - Getty Images)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

A photograph taken from mobile phone video of a National Transitional Council (NTC) fighter shows the capture of Moammar Gadhafi in Sirte on Oct. 20, 2011.
(AFP - Getty Images)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

This image provided by the Libyan Youth Group on Nov. 19, 2011, shows Seif al-Islam Gadhafi after he was captured near the Niger border with Libya. Moammar Gadhafi's son, the only wanted member of the ousted ruling family to remain at large, was captured as he traveled with aides in a convoy in Libya's southern desert.
(AP)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation